Cherry's Adventures of Rainbow Rocks
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: Atticus, Mo, Patch, and Cherry are called back to Canterlot High School to help out as three new students who go by a name of The Dazzlings who seem to be responsible for strange behavior such as making students hate each other's guts, but why is this? Find out as we join them in a musical adventure in time for the school's Battle of the Bands as Sunset Shimmer tries to be a friend
1. Chapter 1

It had been a while since Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Patch helped Twilight Sparkle win the Fall Formal crown which had actually been a crown from the world she hailed from known as Equestria. The others weren't out for now as they were asleep, but there had been strange things going on. There were arguments among various teenagers. During all of this, there were three girls who were singing. Atticus felt a disturbance as he slept, something deep inside of him was telling him something was wrong. The same with Patch. Atticus and Patch screamed as they woke up and panted.

"I had the weirdest nightmare..." Atticus said.

"Me too..." Patch nodded to him.

"What was your nightmare about?" Atticus asked.

"I don't know their names, but I saw these three girls in a diner and they were singing," Patch explained. "Everyone else was mad at each other, but these three girls sang something."

"So weird, that was the same thing happening in my nightmare." Atticus said.

"Something's up..." Patch said.

"Yeha, but what?" Atticus wondered.

This was going to be a long night for all of them.

* * *

Cherry was sleeping soundly for a change, but she tossed and turned. "No, no, STAY BACK!" she then sat up, panting heavily while sweating. "Ugh, what was that all about?" she then looked to her window. "Why is my bedroom window open? I thought I closed that... Oh, well..." she then walked over and shut the window and went back into bed. "Now back to sleep where I can be myself with nobody to torture me."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." A voice said.

Cherry's eyes widened. "Dare I turn on the light...?"

"You might not get the chance." The voice said before grabbing her.

Cherry yelped, trying to get out of bed until she was grabbed. "Let go of me!"

"No way, you are one of the ones my sisters and I are looking for." The voice said before knocking her out.

Cherry yelped before passing out. A figure catches her and gets out of her room with her in the figure's arms. Unfortunately, Cherry's parents were not home and she was taken away far from home.

Forte could sense trouble however. "Cerise is not in her house..." he then said, worried.

* * *

The next day, Atticus and Mo were walking back to their old school after they weren't really Canterlot High students, but really hoped to return to the school someday. Atticus was telling Mo all about the dream he had.

"That sounds spooky, Atticus," Mo commented. "At least it was just a dream."

"Same here." Atticus said as he carried his girlfriend over his shoulder as a ride for her.

Mo giggled and squealed as they were on their way to school.

"Nothing could ruin this beautiful morning." Mo giggled.

Atticus laughed as he then put her back down on her feet as they came into their school, but then, they saw that their medallions were glowing.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Mo yelped.

"Oh, no, something tells me we're in for an adventure," Atticus said. "I wonder if Patch's medallion/Pound Puppy tag is glowing too?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea..." Mo said as she looked up.

Patch then fell and landed on top of Mo's head as he was still a puppy.

"Let me guess, we're going to go on an Equestria related adventure, right?" Patch asked.

"That's what it looks like, buddy..." Atticus said ebfore looking around. "Any of you see Cherry anywhere?"

"If you don't know, I don't know..." Mo squinted her eyes nervously.

 ** _'Atticus, Mo, Patch, we need your help at Canterlot High.'_** Celestia's voice said.

"Wait, that voice..." Atticus said.

"Princess Celestia..." the three said together.

 ** _'Yes, young ones, it's me, now please, to Canterlot High.'_ **Celestia's voice said.

"What about Cherry?" Mo asked.

"We'll worry about her later, come on, let's go." Atticus urged.

"But how do we even get there?" Patch asked.

"I remember the way..." Mo said.

Atticus and Patch looked to her and with that, the three rushed off to Canterlot High. The three of them then saw a portal appear.

* * *

"Strange portal, what do we do?" Patch asked.

"Go in it." Atticus suggested.

"Yes." Mo nodded in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

In Canterlot High, many students were gathered together, doing an art activity for something special that was coming up in their school. Sunset did her best to be nice all around the others, but it took some getting used to since she was the self-proclaimed Queen of the School before Twilight, Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Patch showed up. The only ones who trusted her were the Humane Five.

"I don't think I see Twilight yet..." Patch said as he looked around with Atticus and Mo as Cherry wasn't with them as they came to the school grounds of Canterlot High.

"Either she's already inside or she hasn't been summoned yet." Mo shrugged.

"I'd go with the hasn't been summoned." Atticus said.

* * *

They soon went inside of the school, trying not to worry too much about Cherry or Twilight as they joined the other students in the gym as they were making art projects together in their own groups.

"Want some help?" Sunset asked the CMC as she took a paintbrush with a friendly smile.

"Uh, no thanks," Apple Bloom said. "We're good."

"That was rude." Mo said.

"You guys are here?" Sunset smiled almost hopefully.

"Yep," Atticus smiled back. "Good to see you again, Sunset. Sure looks busy."

"Sure is." Sunset said.

"Sunset Shimmer! Over here!" Pinkie Pie piped up.

Sunset smiled to that and walked to the Humane Five with Atticus, Mo, and Patch as the other students whispered to each other.

"Guess they're still adjusting after the Fall Formal..." Patch frowned for Sunset as this had to be hard on her.

"Looks like it." Atticus said.

The other students glanced to Sunset and the others like it was forbidden.

"I had no idea the whole school would be here." Sunset sighed as she joined her friends.

Fluttershy smiled, putting her hand on Sunset's shoulder in comfort.

"Neither did we, and have any of you girls seen Cherry?" Mo asked.

The girls shook their heads and said that they hadn't.

"She isn't with you guys?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We thought that she arrived here before we did." Mo said.

"She must be around here somewhere..." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Come along now."

"Oh, wow, I love this poster!" Mo smiled as she looked to a poster that was homemade.

"Oh, thank you, darling!" Rarity smiled back. "Quite the eye-catching advertisement, if I do say so myself."

"You've got that right." Mo smiled back.

"And it smells like cake!" Pinkie Pie beamed.

"It does?" Fluttershy wondered before sniffing.

"Uh... Pinkie...?" Patch blinked.

"I used frosting instead of paste!" Pinkie explained.

"That would explain it." Atticus said.

"Uh, Fluttershy? Ya got a little somethin'... Uh..." Applejack tried to tell the girl.

Fluttershy wiped her cheek and then smiled. "Did I get it?"

"Heh, not exactly." Applejack told her.

Sunset soon helped with the frosting on Fluttershy's nose.

"Good afternoon, students," Principal Celestia smiled as she came inside with Vice Principal Luna. "I just wanted to tell you all how pleased I am that so many of you are going to participate in the first ever Canterlot High School Musical Showcase!"

This made all of the students cheer.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to raise money for all our after-school programs here at CHS," Principal Celestia then continued. "So keep working on those signs and posters. I think it's going to be one of the most exciting events we've had at CHS since the Fall Formal."

"Maybe she shouldn't have said that." Atticus whispered to the others.

"She's a principal, she's supposed to tell us." Mo defended for Celestia, though she did feel bad for Sunset as the others looked at her.

Sunset fell to the floor and hugged her knees as she sat down, but her friends comforted her.

* * *

Later on, they were soon in the music room.

"Ugh! I am never gonna live that down." Sunset groaned about what she did when Twilight and the others first came here.

"You were pretty bad at the Fall Formal." Fluttershy pointed out.

"A demon," Sunset frowned. "I turned into a raging she-demon."

"And tried to turn everyone here into teenage zombies for your own personal army!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Not helping, Pinkie." Patch said.

"Oops, sorry." Pinkie replied.

"Oh, darling, you have us, and we've forgiven you for your past... Ahem... Boo-Boos." Rarity comforted Sunset.

"To be honest, Ah'd say the whole experience brought everyone at Canterlot High closer than ever before!" Applejack replied.

"Totally." Atticus said.

"One! Two! Three!" Pinkie smiled as she clicked her drumsticks together to begin a song.

 _'Here we go with singing.'_ Mo thought to herself.

Atticus brought out some chairs with a smile. Mo smiled back and sat down with him and Patch so the girls could share a song with them.

"There was a time we were apart, But that's behind us now, See how we've made a brand new start, And the future's lookin' up, ah-oh, ah-oh, And when you walk these halls, You feel it everywhere, Yeah, we're the Wondercolts forever, ah-oh, yeah!, We are all together~" The Rainbooms sang. "(Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh), Now it's better than ever, (Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh), You can feel it, we are back (You... can... feel... it...), And I'm so glad that we're better, Better than ever, Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh, Oh yeah, we're better than ever, Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh~"

Atticus, Mo, and Patch began to enjoy the song.

"There was a time we couldn't see~," Rainbow Dash sang. "Past the differences~"

"That separated you and me~," Applejack sang. "And it left us on our own~"

"But now you walk these halls, And friends are everywhere~" Pinkie Pie sang.

Atticus, Mo, and Patch soon noticed the girls ponying up. Sunset felt happier as she soon stood up from the piano and danced with her friends as they had fun until the song soon ended. Once the song ended, their pony ears, tails, and wings disappeared.

"That was wonderful!" Mo smiled.

"I still can't believe that happens when we play!" Rarity giggled before she soon got fashionable ideas. "Ooh! I've got to look into some new accessories! Something that looks good in a longer ponytail. Ooh! Maybe some clip-on earrings for when I get those adorable pony ears."

"Ooh, yeah." Mo smiled.

"Ah just wonder why it happens," Applejack wondered. "Princess Twilight took her crown back to Equestria. Shouldn't that mean she took all the magic back with her?"

"Well, magic is a very powerful thing." Patch advised.

"Who cares why it happens?" Rainbow Dash replied. "It makes my band totally awesome!"

"Your band?" Atticus asked her.

"Duh! It was my idea to start the Rainbooms so we could be in the showcase," Rainbow Dash defended. "Plus I'm the lead singer and guitarist."

"I guess that's fair," Patch shrugged, then looked to the door before it was knocked on. "Oh, someone's at the door."

The door was then knocked and Flash Sentry was shown. "Uh, heard you outside. You guys are sounding really tight."

"They sure are." Atticus said.

"Uh, we're getting there," Rainbow Dash told him. "Rarity's still coming in a little late on the second verse, and Applejack's bass solo could use a little work. They'll get it together in time for the showcase."

"Hey, guys," Flash smiled to Atticus, Mo, and Patch. "Uh, did you bring any other friends with you from out-of-town, this being a charity event, and all?"

"Sorry, Flash; Twilight's not here." Atticus said.

"Oh, yeah. Okay," Flash replied nervously, backing up and hitting the wall before he then smiled sheepishly and went out the door. "I just, you know, thought I'd ask. Uh, k-keep on rockin' it."

"Well, someone is quite the smitten kitten," Rarity giggled to that, but she then saw Sunset and felt bad about saying that. "Oh. Sorry. I always forget you and Flash used to be an item."

"Yeah, and we won't pry in why you two broke up." Mo said.

"It's okay," Sunset said to them. "Flash is a great guy and all, but I never really liked-him liked him. I was just using him to become more popular. Ugh! The old me really was just awful, wasn't she?"

"That is a bit bad, but... I guess at least now you learned the consequences of your actions?" Mo smiled nervously.

"She's right." Applejack agreed.

"Thanks, Mo, but I'm not sure everyone else at CHS feels the same way." Sunset replied softly.

"They will," Mo assured her. "Just give them some time."

 ** _'Sunset Shimmer, please report to the main foyer.'_** Vice Principal Luna announced on the PA.

Atticus, Mo, and Patch looked concerned.

"Gotta run. I volunteered to show some new students around the school," Sunset told everyone. "Thought it'd be good for them to get to know the new me before they heard all the stuff about the old me."

"Smart." Atticus smiled.

"Would you like to come with me?" Sunset invited.

"Sure." Atticus smiled.

Sunset smiled back to him and they soon left together.

"Coming to lunch?" Mo asked.

"We're gonna practice, you go ahead." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"Okay." Patch said.

* * *

There were three new girls shown in the hallway until Sunset and Atticus would come to see them.

"Hi. Are you the girls I'm supposed to show around?" Sunset greeted.

"We are." The lead girl smirked.

"Canterlot High is a great school," Sunset smiled. "You're really gonna love it."

"Oh, yes, we really sense there's something... Magical about this place." The girl nodded eagerly.

"You could say that." Atticus said.

"I'm Sunset Shimmer, and this is a good friend of mine, Atticus Fudo." Sunset introduced.

"What are your names?" Atticus asked the girls before seeing a fourth girl.

"I'm Adagio Dazzle." The first girl said.

"I'm Aria Blaze." The second girl who looked a little rough and tough replied.

The third girl looked like she was staring off into space and soon looked over. "Oh! Hiii~..."

"Your name?" Atticus asked.

"Oh," The girl smiled. "Sonata Dusk."

"Nice to meet you three." Atticus said before going to the fourth girl.

The fourth girl noticed him and came towards him.

"And who might you be?" Atticus smiled, friendly as always. He soon noticed the hoodie the fourth girl was wearing and knew exactly who it was. "Hey! Where have you been?" He then asked her.

"Oh, uh... Here... And there..." Cherry said to him, sounding more mysterious than usual.

"Um, okay?" Atticus said out of confusion.

"Did I miss anything?" Cherry asked.

"Oh, nothing too important, just three new students..." Atticus shrugged.

"That's good, so I haven't missed much." Cherry said.

"Yeah... You kinda disappeared on us though... Where exactly were you?" Atticus asked.

"Oh, I was just studying for... Um... A pop quiz..." Cherry replied, fiddling with her glasses slightly.

"She was with us." Adagio told him.

"Uh, yeah..." Cherry said.

"So, you've already met the new kids?" Atticus asked.

"Uh, yeah, why not?" Cherry shrugged sheepishly. "Say, they should be in the musical showcase, they're such great singers!"

"You already know about it?" Atticus asked.

"What? I didn't know." Cherry got nervous suddenly and ran off to the girl's bathroom.

"She's acting weird..." Atticus said before catching what he said. "'Er'... _Weirder_ than usual."

"She must be really excited about having us be in your school." Adagio smirked innocently.

"Yeah, maybe." Atticus said.

"Anyway, I'm sure since you're new, Principal Celestia would let you sign up if you're interested." Sunset offered to the new girls about the musical showcase.

"We have been known to sing from time-to-time." Aria replied.

"Hello? We sing, like, all the time!" Sonata interrupted. "It's how we get people to do what we want."

"What do you mean by that?" Atticus asked.

"What she meant to say was that being in a musical showcase sounds like a great way to meet other students." Adagio replied.

"Ohhhh, yeah," Sonata then said. "Th-What she said I meant to say. That's what I meant. To say."

"And what you would have said if you weren't the worst." Aria scoffed.

"You are!" Sonata argued.

"Do those two argue a lot?" Atticus asked Adagio.

"You'll have to excuse them," Adagio told him. "They're idiots."

This made both Aria and Sonata pout.

"That's a little mean." Atticus said.

"It's true though." Adagio shrugged.

"Hmm..." Atticus frowned.

"Oh, uh, those are pretty," Sunset said as she noticed their necklaces. "Where did you-"

Adagio grabbed her hand before letting to sheepishly. "Sorry. These pendants mean an awful lot to us. We'd just hate for anything to happen to them." She then explained.

"Um, okay." Atticus said.

Two of the girls then walked off until Aria grabbed Sonata to make her come along with them.

"Atticus, I'm not sure what, but there's something funny about those girls." Sunset said.

"Yeah, I agree." Atticus replied.

"We better keep an eye on them." Sunset suggested.

"Yes." Atticus agreed.

* * *

It was now time for lunch in Canterlot High. Atticus and Sunset soon joined their friends.

"So, how was the tour?" Applejack smiled.

"I don't know," Sunset shrugged. "I mean, these girls, they were... There was something off about them."

"Like, off like this?" Pinkie asked, making her hair into a beard before putting carrots in her mouth like fangs and lettuce on her face for eyebrows. "Or off like this? Or... Oh, oh! Like-"

Rainbow Dash soon covered Pinkie Pie's mouth. "Maybe we should let them tell us?" She then suggested.

Pinkie then smiled and kept quiet.

"That's just it. I can't put my finger on it," Sunset sighed. "They just acted sort of... Strange around us. Maybe someone already talked to them. Told them about what I did. So much for making a good first impression."

Cherry soon came into the cafeteria.

"There's Cherry!" Patch pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, she was with those new girls for some reason, and acted strange." Atticus then said.

"She seemed to know the new girls too somehow." Sunset added.

"That is strange." Mo said.

"We better pay close attention to them." Patch suggested.

"Yes, there's just something about them... Everything is not what it seems." Atticus agreed.

Eventually, the three girls came into the cafeteria as Cherry was getting her own lunch, and where she heard them singing. All of the students looked at the three girls as they seemed entranced by their singing.

"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh, Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh, Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh, Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh~" The three girls began to sing together as they came into the cafeteria and their pendants glowed.

 _'Uh-oh.'_ Cherry thought to herself.

"We heard you want to get together, We heard you want to rock this school, We've thought of something that is better~," Adagio sang as she walked through the cafeteria with Aria and Sonata. "Something that changes all the rules, Why pretend we're all the same, When some of us shine brighter?~"

"Shine brighter~" Aria and Sonata added.

 _'What are those girls up to?'_ Atticus thought to himself.

"Here's a chance to find your flame, Are you a loser or a fighter?~" Adagio sang as she came towards a boy who sat alone.

"Me and you, you and me, Why don't we see who is better?, We don't have to be one and the same thing, Oh, what's so wrong with a little competition?, Are you afraid of failing the audition?~" The girls all chorused together while the other students seemed to be under a spell.

The only ones that weren't under the spell were the Humane Six, Atticus, Mo, Patch, and Cherry. Cherry looked disgusted at first.

"Cherry...?" Atticus asked in concern.

"Spinach... Yuck..." Cherry groaned as she took the vegetable off her plate and put it on his, showing she wasn't disgusted with them, but with the food.

"Well, at least that hasn't changed." Mo smiled.

Eventually, the other students began to turn on each other in a competitive way like they were bitter enemies.

"Ohh, they're _that_ kind of off!" Pinkie said once the song ended.

"Yeah, like that." Atticus said.

Mo clamped her hands over her ears as she looked stressed and overwhelmed about the arguing in the cafeteria. "Ugh, I hate it when people fight!" she groaned to herself and her Element of Harmony soon glowed. "Make it stop! Please, someone, make it stop!"

"Do you know anything about this?" Patch asked Cherry.

"Uh, no, I can't imagine I would know anything." Cherry said sheepishly.

"You sure?" Atticus asked.

"No, I mean, yes, I mean... Uh, yeah, I'm sure..." Cherry shrugged.

"You're acting stranger than usual." Mo said.

"I'm fine! Really!" Cherry replied.

The others didn't look too sure about that.

* * *

 ** _Eventually, in the hallway..._**

"Rainbow Dash, I don't think you should play soccer in the hallway, you might hit someone with it." Mo warned the tomboy athlete.

"I'll be careful." Rainbow Dash replied as she kicked around her ball.

"I can't watch." Patch said as he covered his eyes.

"Those three are definitely in possession of some kind of dark magic," Sunset said about the new girls. "How else could you explain what happened back there?"

"Don't worry, y'all," Applejack soothed. "We'll let Principal Celestia know all about this and those girls will be kicked to the curb in no time. Last thing she needs is another CHS event almost ruined by some power-crazed lunatic," she then realized what she said. "Er, no offense."

"None taken..." Sunset sighed.

"If only there was some way to contact Twilight." Atticus said.

"Well, that's not gonna happen," Rainbow Dash replied. "The portal's closed."

"Dang it." Patch groaned.

* * *

They soon came to Principal Celestia to talk to her.

"Dark magic? I find that very hard to believe," Principal Celestia said to them. "Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful."

"Perhaps Sunset Shimmer is just eager to make someone else out to be a bad element, so that her actions at the Fall Formal will become old news." Vice Principal Luna suggested.

"So, you don't think that the rest of the students suddenly became enemies towards each other while the new girls were singing?" Mo asked them.

"Oh, that cannot be," Principal Celestia shook her head. "Though, I won't tolerate fighting in my school."

"Wait, by any chance, did they do any singing in front of you?" Atticus asked Celestia and Luna.

"No, they haven't," Vice Principal Luna replied. "Are you sure you're not just jealous of The Dazzlings?"

"Uh, Dazzlings?" Mo asked.

"That's what they've called themselves," Vice Principal Luna clarified before explaining. "Don't be afraid of a little competition."

"I think we need to go now." Patch said.

"Oh, I do remember now," Principal Celestia said. "The girls came to the office earlier to sign up for the showcase."

"They did?" Applejack asked.

"Yes, and we think having a Battle of the Bands instead is a marvelous idea." Principal Celestia smiled.

 _'Oh, great.'_ Mo thought to herself.

* * *

They soon left the office in despair.

"I can't believe they got to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna too." Fluttershy frowned.

"They've gotten to everybody." Rainbow Dash complained.

"This is just great." Mo groaned.

"Not everybody!" Pinkie Pie reminded.

"Pinkie Pie's right," Applejack admitted. "We were there when the Dazzlings were singin' and we weren't affected. It was like we were protected somehow."

"It must be our magic." Atticus said.

"So let's take them down!" Rainbow Dash suggested. "It's not like we haven't tangled with dark magic before and totally whooped its sorry butt! Uh, no offense."

"None taken... Again..." Sunset sighed.

"But that was when Twilight was here," Fluttershy frowned. "There may be some kind of magic inside us, but it only comes out when we play music. I sure don't know how to use it to... Whoop anybody's butt."

"If only Twilight could be able to come more often." Atticus said.

Suddenly, Sunset looked inspired. "I may have an idea how we can get in touch with Princess Twilight!"

Everyone looked curious and they soon followed Sunset inside as she went to her locker and opened it up to take out a box.

"When I was Princess Celestia's student back in Equestria, she gave me this," Sunset told the others as she brought out a book. "Even after I abandoned my studies, I held onto it. Deep down, I guess I knew I was making a big mistake, and I wanted to still have a way to reach out to her. Maybe it still works."

"Try it." Mo said.

"That's a _book_ , darling," Rarity clarified. "What do you mean 'maybe still works'?"

"It used to be that if I wrote something here, it would appear in the pages of a book back in Princess Celestia's library," Sunset explained. "I get a message to her, then she can get a message to Princess Twilight."

"All right, then get writing!" Mo smiled, handing Sunset a pen to write something down. "Write down everything that's happened today."

"Been a long time since I've written these words," Sunset said before she started to write something out. "'Dear Princess Celestia'..." Luckily, her words were actually going to be able to reach Equestria.


	3. Chapter 3

Right now, all anyone could do was wait. It seemed to take forever. Rarity was doing Fluttershy and Mo's nails, Patch decided to play cards with Pinkie Pie and Applejack, Rainbow Dash practiced her soccer moves, and Sunset sat with Atticus with the book.

Cherry poked her head out from the school. "I feel bad for lying to them..." she sighed to herself. "How do I get myself into these messes?"

"Something wrong?" Adagio smirked.

"Gah!" Cherry yelped. "Oh, uh, nothing..."

"Something does look wrong~..." Sonata said, softly and tilted her head.

"Uh, how's about I take you girls to the auditorium?" Cherry smiled nervously.

The girls glanced at her.

"C-Come on, it'll be fun..." Cherry told them, walking that way.

"Alright." Aria sighed.

Cherry hid a breath of relief as she took them into the auditorium for right now.

* * *

Applejack smirked to Pinkie Pie as she had all four Aces while Pinkie smirked back, showing her cards were all Jokers. Soon enough, Twilight had arrived.

"Twilight!" Everyone cheered and came to the Alicorn Princess of Friendship from Equestria.

"I'm back..." Twilight smiled shyly.

Sunset offered her hand to help Twilight up. Twilight hesitated at first, but soon took her hands and stood up on her two feet.

"It's great to have you back." Atticus smiled at Twilight.

The others soon got into a group hug with Twilight and she hugged them back.

"I've got some bad news about those new girls." Twilight frowned to her friends from this universe.

"They're from Equestria?" Mo guessed.

"Yes, it's a long story," Twilight replied. "Is there someplace we can talk?"

"How about SugarCube Corner?" Mo offered.

"Perfect." Patch said.

* * *

They soon went there since it was after school and they caught up with Twilight.

"Oh, I do hate that you had to return at a time of crisis," Rarity said to the Equestrian girl. "There's so much catching up to do!"

"For starters, a certain blue-haired guitar player was just askin' about you." Applejack added.

"Flash Sentry was asking about me?!" Twilight asked excitedly, but then calmed down nervously and sipped her milkshake. "Isn't that nice?"

Mo simply smirked playfully at her.

"Perhaps you would give us just the slightest bit of gossip from your world?" Rarity suggested.

"She's got an official title now," Spike smiled before imitating a fanfare for Twilight's new accomplishment back in her world. "The Princess of Friendship!"

"That's great, Twilight." Mo smiled.

"Wow, that's really impressive," Sunset added in amazement. "Guess you really were Princess Celestia's prized pupil."

" _Princess_ Twilight Sparkle..." Atticus smiled. "It sounds... Wonderful."

"She's even got her own castle!" Spike continued.

"Weren't we there when her castle appeared after defeating Tirek?" Mo asked Patch and Atticus.

Patch shook chills. "Sorry... That name always gets me going."

"A castle?! You have your own castle?!" Rarity gushed to Twilight before clearing her throat and smiled nervously. "Ooh, uh, lovely."

"Same old Rarity." Atticus smiled.

"What's new here?" Twilight asked. "I mean, besides your school becoming the target of dangerous magical creatures from Equestria?"

"Uhh..." Atticus and Mo smiled sheepishly as that was pretty much it.

"Yeah, so, that isn't exactly the only strange thing that's happened since you left," Rainbow Dash replied as she showed Twilight an image from her phone. "Pretty sweet, huh? It happens to all of us when we play."

"Yeah, for some reason." Mo said.

"Hmm... My crown was returned to Equestria, but some of its magic must have remained here at Canterlot High," Twilight suggested. "Now that we're all back together, we can use that magic on The Sirens. Just like when we were able to use it on Sunset Shimmer when she turned into that horrifyingly awful winged monster! No offense."

"None taken..." Sunset groaned before sighing and weakly chuckling. "Heh, I'm used to it."

"Luckily most of us haven't mentioned it." Mo said.

"They'll never even know what hit 'em!" Rainbow Dash smirked as she soon yelled out and did karate kicks and punches and was about to punch someone clear in the face, but luckily, Applejack caught her fist to make her stop before she would hurt someone.

"We've got nothin' to worry about now that Twilight's back." Applejack reassured her friends.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I could find something to worry about, but it won't be The Sirens." Fluttershy whispered as she hugged Spike.

"I have a feeling the magic of friendship won't work the same way it worked last time." Atticus said.

"The sooner we do this, the better," Twilight replied. "Any idea where the Dazzlings might be?"

"There's a big party tonight for all the bands who signed up to be in the showcase!" Pinkie shrugged as she sipped her milkshake. "That would include the Dazzlings."

"Looks like we've got a party to crash." Twilight then told the others.

"You got that right." Patch said.

Pinkie let out a small squeal since she loved parties, obviously.

* * *

At the school, everyone student was in the auditorium, but they all seemed to snub each other due to the Dazzlings' song earlier. The only ones that weren't snubbing each other were the Humane 7, Atticus, Patch, Mo, and Cherry and the Dazzlings, though the Dazzlings were evil.

"I'm gonna get more punch!" Flash glared at Snips and Snails before storming off, but soon ran into Twilight and they both ended up on the floor. "Twilight?!" he then asked, surprised to see the girl back in his school.

"They've really got to stop them meeting like that." Mo whispered to Atticus.

"I feel like I've seen that in every high school movie ever." Atticus whispered back.

The students' arguing sounded louder.

"I can't watch this..." Patch frowned about everybody fighting. "I just don't know why the Dazzlings needed this?"

"We'll find out eventually, Patch, I promise you." Mo soothed him.

* * *

The Dazzlings soon came in. Cherry let her leg out and she zipped to hide behind the bleachers away from them. Once she was alone, she breathed in relief that no one had seen her.

"Oh, no! No one's mingling!" Adagio mocked surprise. "It's like there's some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute!"

"It's the fruit punch, isn't it?" Sonata asked, missing the point. "I knew I used too much grape juice!"

"It's not the fruit punch!" Adagio growled to her. "It's us!"

"Okay, I agree with you, those two are idiots." Cherry told Adagio.

"Aw, you finally did something right, you'll be a perfect Dazzling." Adagio smirked, putting her hand on Cherry's shoulder.

"But the punch is awful, too." Aria muttered.

"What do _you_ know about good fruit punch?" Sonata glared as they soon got into an argument.

"STOP IT!" Cherry whined.

"Why should we?" Aria asked.

"Because you two are acting like idiots," Cherry said. "Though I'm sure that's probably not different than any other day of your lives."

"Ex ** _CUSE ME?_**!" Aria narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Cherry huffed. "Stupid _and_ deaf?"

"I oughta tear you a new one." Aria threatened.

"Ooh, nice comeback." Cherry smirked.

Aria growled as she looked like she wanted to beat Cherry senseless.

"This is just the kickoff party, girls," Adagio told them all. "Imagine what a tizzy they'll be in by the time the Battle of the Bands starts."

"Yeah, but there are some others that aren't affected by your pendants' magic or your singing." Cherry smirked.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Adagio glared.

"Well, she does have a perfect GPA and attendance..." Sonata said in the background.

"Okay, seriously, just don't speak except when you're singing." Cherry told her.

* * *

"There isn't going to be a Battle of the Bands!" Twilight proclaimed. "We're gonna make sure of that! Alright, guys, let's do this! Friendship is magic!"

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Mo, and Atticus soon joined hands with Twilight, but nothing seemed to happen, and they were just standing there, looking awkward. Sonata shrugged while the other students stared in confusion.

"This is getting awkward." Atticus whispered.

"Uh, weren't there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time?" Rainbow Dash asked once she saw that nothing was happening.

"I don't understand," Twilight frowned in concern. "We're all together again. Why isn't this working?"

"Wait, not all of us are holding hands." Mo said.

The Dazzlings smirked while Cherry looked embarrassed for her friends. Everyone looked around as they noticed that someone was missing. Patch soon rushed over before bringing Cherry along.

"Gah!" Cherry yelped as she was suddenly dragged along.

Once they were with their friends, Atticus soon joined his left hand with Cherry's right hand and Patch joined his right paw with Cherry's left hand, hoping it would work now.

"Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!" Adagio mocked. "This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they've already got this thing all locked up."

"Is she seriously making us look like we're the bad guy?" Mo whispered to Atticus.

"Duh!" Cherry called out to Mo.

 _'Oh, this is bad.'_ Patch thought to himself.

"Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!" Trixie yelled out.

"Whatever, Trixie!" Flash scoffed at her. "We're the best band at CHS!"

"No! The Crusaders are gonna win!" Apple Bloom argued.

"Well, this just made our situation worse." Mo groaned.

Cherry looked anxious as the students argued even louder.

"I think we may have found what we're looking for," Adagio said to her friends. "Or rather, it found us."

"We better get going." Cherry whispered to the others.

"Oh, so now you wanna help us?" Mo asked.

"Look, I know I've been distant lately, but I promise, it won't happen again..." Cherry replied.

"Great." Patch said.

* * *

They soon left the auditorium and came out of the school.

"It doesn't make any sense," Twilight sighed about how their Magic of Friendship seemed useless. "I should have been able to create the spark that would help us break their spell. That's how it worked before."

"Maybe this time is different." Mo said.

"She might have a point," Sunset agreed. "To defeat me, you drew magic from the crown I was wearing. The sirens' magic comes from their music. So maybe you have to use the same kind of magic to defeat them. Or... Maybe not."

"Hmm... Well, I do have one idea." Twilight said.

"Yeah?" Patch asked her.

"It's when you play music that you transform now, right?" Twilight asked.

"Yup," Applejack nodded. "Ears, tails, the whole shebang."

"So maybe the way to use that magic to defeat the sirens is by playing a musical counter-spell!" Twilight suggested.

"Agreed." Atticus nodded.

"You mean like a song?" Fluttershy asked them as they seemed to have the same idea, being almost like siblings after all.

"Uh-huh, and in order to free everyone who's been exposed to the sirens' spell, we'll need them all to hear it." Twilight nodded.

"And what better way than at the Battle of the Bands?" Atticus said.

"Guess the Rainbooms are the band to beat." Applejack smiled.

"And I believe you, Twilight, just became the Rainbooms' newest member." Rarity added.

This made everybody else clap and cheer for her.

"So what do you wanna play?" Pinkie asked her with several options. "Triangle? Sousaphone? Theremin? Soooo magical."

"How about Twilight just sings?" Mo suggested. "And what about the rest of us?"

Twilight smiled sheepishly, though she agreed that singing would be a good fit for her.

"Hmm... Well, singing lead is usually my thing... What can ya guys play?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Atticus, Cherry, Mo, and Patch began to look for an instrument to play, but for Atticus, it would be hard to do with his strength.

"Maybe I'll sing too?" Atticus suggested.

"He has a lovely voice." Mo told the girls.

"He sounds like a dying goose on helium." Cherry smirked.

"Would you rather like for him to go through every instrument in existence?" Patch asked.

"Yes, it would be hilarious." Cherry replied.

"I'm singing!" Atticus told her.

"Fine..." Cherry pouted.

"And as for the rest of you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I used to play the recorder, it's been a while, but I could try it." Mo offered.

"Could work." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Cherry plays piano!" Atticus blurted out for revenge.

"Gee, thanks." Cherry groaned.

"Well, you do have the hands for it..." Rainbow Dash said as she took Cherry's hands.

Cherry smiled bashfully to that.

"What about you, Patch?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Hm... I guess I never thought about it before..." Patch replied.

Rainbow Dash hummed before getting an idea of which instrument was perfect. "I think I know the right instrument!" she then said.

"Uh... Yes?" Patch asked. "What is it?"

Rainbow Dash soon rushed out and started to go through every instrument they had until she found a unique flute.

"A flute?" Patch asked.

"Try it," Rainbow Dash smiled. "I think this'll really work out."

Patch looked to each other as he glanced at the flute, wondering if he should go through with it or not.

"Go on, darling, you might be great at it." Rarity smiled.

"Well, I suppose I could try it... Can't say I've seen a flute like this before..." Patch said before he took the flute and blew into it, playing a very special and rather sweet song. The song he played began to sound like a lullaby and where a random fire soon showed a scene of some kind.

"I know this song from somewhere..." Cherry whispered to herself. "From where though, I'm not positive..."

Patch continued to play the song, and where the scene continued on as it looked like some mystical creatures were having a celebration. Everyone else soon looked to see what was happening as there were dancing images from the peaceful and sweet melody. It was amazing, beautiful, and peaceful all at once until Patch then finished.

"I heard this in a dream once..." Patch told them once he finished and smiled. "Did you really like it?"

"We sure did, and I think you should look in the mirror." Rainbow Dash said.

"Hm?" Patch replied before he took a look to see what she had meant, and where he saw himself in his human form and ponied up.

"Way to go, Spot." Cherry said.

"You very well know my name," Patch told her in annoyance. "Anyway, maybe we should also learn that counter spell soon."

"Well, that's just it..." Twilight said sheepishly. "I don't know any."

"Really?" Mo asked.

Twilight smiled sheepishly.

"That's okay, we're all learning in our own way." Atticus comforted her.

"Well, I'm sure I could figure out how to write one." Twilight replied.

"Totally! Twilight can write a spell like it's nobody's business," Spike smiled. "That's pretty much how she got to become a princess in Equestria."

"True that." Patch said.

"Well, you helped finished a spell, Twilight..." Cherry then said, emphasis for Spike.

"Yeah, whatever." Spike shrugged.

"I've got this, come on!" Twilight told him before running off.

"All right." Atticus agreed.

"Where're you goin'?" Applejack asked Twilight.

"Well, last time we were here, Spike and I spent the night at one of your house's." Twilight replied.

"I have a better idea!" Pinkie beamed. "Slumber Party at my house!"

"Perfect!" Mo cheered.

"No boys allowed?" Patch pouted as he knew how slumber parties worked on TV.

"This time, it's a boys and girls sleepover!" Pinkie Pie smiled.

"Oh! Okay." Patch smiled back.


	4. Chapter 4

Later on, everyone came together in Pinkie Pie's bedroom in their pajamas and hung out like a normal slumber party while Twilight tried to write a spell, and where she had Atticus to help her with it.

"Status update: 'Okie-dokie-lokie'." Pinkie Pie smiled as she used Cherry's laptop while the owner looked grim and annoyed.

"Can I have my laptop back now?" Cherry begged.

Pinkie Pie giggled and gave her her laptop back. Rarity made a face as she soon took a selfie with Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, and Mo. She soon saw that they got photo-bombed by Spike. Fluttershy, Mo, and Sunset giggled to that while Rarity glared at Spike as he ate a dog biscuit. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were even playing a video game and it looked like the country girl was going to win. Rainbow Dash panicked to that, so she slammed the console.

"Hey! Ah was about to beat ya!" Applejack glared.

"She actually was." Patch said.

"I doubt it," Rainbow Dash said like a sore loser. "So, Twilight, how is that counter-spell comin'?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, good. Great," Twilight smiled as she sat with Atticus. "Thanks for letting us use your notebook, Fluttershy. I really like the song you wrote for the Rainbooms."

"Thanks," Fluttershy smiled back before sighing as she hugged the stuffed alligator. "Hopefully one day, we'll get a chance to play it."

"We sure will." Atticus said.

Rainbow Dash then laughed at Applejack, holding the controller.

"Hey!" Applejack glared.

Patch simply sighed as he went face-palm.

"Twilight, I think I speak for all of us when I say I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come back to help us." Rarity smiled as she sat down right beside Twilight as she sat with Atticus.

"Same here." Atticus said.

Everyone else agreed. Eventually, the doorbell rang.

"Pizza's here!" Pinkie Pie beamed before zipping off.

"Awesome!" Mo cheered.

Everyone else raced to the door, but some stayed behind in the room. Twilight sighed as she looked into the notebook, feeling hopeless.

"Don't you want any pizza?" Pinkie Pie asked with her mouth full with a slice.

Twilight nodded with a small smile. Pinkie smiled back and dashed off to get some more pizza. Twilight soon joined them.

"Don't worry about it for now, let's get some pizza, you'll love it." Atticus soothed Twilight.

"Thanks, Atticus." Twilight smiled as she put the notebook away in Pinkie's drawer for right now.

* * *

And soon, everyone joined together and shared a pizza together for their slumber party before going to bed.

"I just love pizza." Patch smiled.

Cherry reached for another slice.

"Okay, I think you've had enough." Mo smiled.

"No, no, just one more," Cherry said as she ate another slice, but then groaned and looked queasy. "Oh, no, you're right... That was a bad move..."

Patch soon took the other slice.

* * *

Later that night, everybody had fallen asleep. Well, almost everybody. Twilight got out of bed and took out her notebook and made her way out.

Still not used to using her hands to write, she had the pen in her mouth and wrote with it that way as it was easier for her. She thought she had an idea, but shook her head as she hated it already, and spit the pen out. "No. That's not gonna work."

"Can't sleep either?" Atticus asked as he and Sunset came in.

"Just looking over the counter-spell," Twilight sighed to them. "We only get one shot at this. It has to be perfect."

"We really are lucky you're here." Sunset said as she opened the fridge as it was filled with cans of whipped cream.

"And we know that your spell will be perfect." Atticus said.

"Who could possibly need this much whipped cream?" Sunset muttered as she stared in the fridge. "Must be nice to have everyone always looking to you for answers to their problems... Instead of waiting for you to cause a problem."

"Just because everyone expects something from you doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen." Twilight advised.

"True that." Atticus nodded.

"Well, that doesn't stop them from expecting it." Sunset added.

"Which only makes things harder because the last thing you want to do is-" Twilight said before finishing with Sunset. "Let everybody down."

They were both surprised with each other and smiled as Sunset closed the fridge, but let out a yelp as a girl came into the kitchen from nowhere.

"Boulder was hungry..." Maud said as she opened a cupboard and took out a box of crackers for her pet rock.

 _'I didn't even hear her come in.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

Maud soon left while feeding Boulder, mysterious as Cherry would.

"I still can't get over the fact that _she's_ related to Pinkie Pie." Sunset whispered to Twilight and Atticus.

"You and me both!" Twilight replied.

"You said it." Atticus added.

"I better get some sleep," Sunset said with a yawn as she decided to leave. "Good luck with the counter-spell. Not that you'll need it. This must be nothing compared with the stuff you're expected to deal with as a princess in Equestria."

"Yeah, this should be easy for you." Atticus said.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight called.

Sunset looked back at her before she went back in the bedroom.

Twilight took a long look and soon sighed in defeat. "...Never mind. It's not important."

Sunset gave a small smile and then went to go back to sleep. Atticus soon stayed behind as he already knew something was up.

"No, I have to be able to do this. I have to." Twilight told herself.

"Twilight, you okay?" Atticus asked.

"I-I'll be fine, you go back with the others." Twilight told him.

"You sure?" Atticus asked.

Twilight looked at him and looked down. "What if I can't do this?" she then asked him in defeat. "I mean... You saw what happened in Equestria. I even got my house burnt down thanks to Tirek."

"Twilight, even with the princesses' magic, neither of us could stop him alone without our friends." Atticus said.

"I still can't believe what happened to the library..." Twilight said in depression from memories of that event. "What if I can't do this either and stop The Sirens?"

"Of course you can." Atticus said.

"Do you really think so?" Twilight bit her lip, a bit anxiously.

"I know so, especially with our friends by our side." Atticus said.

Twilight gave a small smile. Atticus then smiled back to her.

"You always know what to say," Twilight smiled. "You really are a great brother figure since Shining Armor and I don't live together anymore since he lives in Canterlot with Cadence."

"True that." Atticus nodded.

Twilight soon hugged Atticus suddenly, surprising him, but he smiled to her. Cherry soon came out and looked surprised to them.

"Nothing happened," Atticus told her quickly. "We were just hugging!"

"Um, okay?" Cherry said out of confusion of why he said that quickly.

"Don't you ever sleep at night?" Atticus smirked to lighten the mood.

"Not a lot really." Cherry smirked back.

"Oh." Atticus said.

Cherry soon opened the fridge door, then took out a can of whipped cream and some sprayed into her face. "Mmf..." she then muffled as that tasted very good and she wiped her mouth. "I meant to do that."

"Uh-huh, sure." Atticus smirked.

Cherry soon went back to the room with a small yawn.

"I guess we should go to sleep now ourselves." Twilight suggested.

"Yeah." Atticus nodded.

Twilight then walked with Atticus to go back to sleep.

* * *

Atticus came beside Mo with Patch in the middle and smiled as he fell asleep beside them, and where the rest of the night was peaceful.

 **'I'll be back for you, Atticus, the time will come soon...'** King Sombra's voice told Atticus in his sleep.

"Go away!" Atticus muffled in his sleep. "Just go away!"

Cherry soon looked to Atticus, waking up and looked concerned for him.

* * *

Eventually, the next morning came and everyone went to school.

"Hey, Atticus, you alright?" Cherry asked.

"Hmm?" Atticus looked to her. "Oh... Yeah..."

"You saw Sombra in your sleep, didn't you?" Cherry guessed.

"Yeah." Atticus sighed.

"I know you're worried about him..." Cherry said before she looked a little scared herself. "In fact, he's quite intimidating... But, uh, you don't have to worry about him for a long time. H-He's taken care of..."

"You really think that he's gone?" Atticus asked.

"I'm sure of it..." Cherry replied. "What could possibly happen?"

Atticus smiled and then walked off ahead of her.

"Oh, please let me be right about that..." Cherry begged as Sombra scared her to death as he hated her the most for teaching Atticus the true magic of friendship when they were kids. "Please, please, please, please, please."

* * *

They soon practiced with the song with Twilight singing, but it sounded rather awkward and terrible. "Hey, hey, listen, We've got a message for you, We're not all alike, But our friendship is true, Yeah, we're really different, But we still get along, So hey, hey, listen to our song, You may think you're in control, But we're here to prove you wrong, With our friendship and our music, With the power of our song, Gonna stomp our feet, clap our hands, With the magic of friendship, Gonna stop your evil plan~"

"Make it stop!" Cherry begged.

Granny Smith even had to put apple cores in her ears.

"Eh, that sounded... Way better than the last... Five times you've played it." Spike smiled nervously.

"Nope." Big Mac commented as he walked by, carrying a barrel of apples.

"Not helping!" Patch told him.

"I think it's pretty obvious what's going on with this counter-spell." Rainbow Dash said to the others.

"You're turnin' what should be the chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?" Applejack glared.

"I have to pick up the slack somehow!" Rainbow Dash glared back. "Are you guys even trying?!"

"Trying?!" Mo glared back. "How is you doing a five-minute guitar solo helping with the counter-spell at all?!"

"It's fine," Twilight laughed nervously. "It'll be fine. One more time from the top!"

However, nobody did anything.

"Or, perhaps we could take a short break, try on some of the wardrobe choices I've put together?" Rarity suggested, bringing over a collection of new outfits and put on what looked like a marching band coat covered in glitter. "I'm particularly fond of this one."

"Rarity, is now really a good time for wardrobe?" Atticus asked.

"There's always a good time for a wardrobe, darling!" Rarity smiled.

"We're tryin' to save our school here," Applejack scolded the fashionista. "Enough with the costumes!"

"Oh, you can never have enough costumes!" Rarity replied in a golden outfit with a helmet with diamonds on the glass.

"Listen, Darth Fashion, there isn't much time about this, so you guys go ahead and handle it, and I'll catch up with you later, because, um, I have a doctor's appointment." Cherry said.

"Where are you really going?" Mo asked as she blocked her path.

"I told you, the doctor." Cherry smiled nervously, trying to move, but Mo just followed her.

"I'm not moving until you tell me." Mo said.

Cherry looked at her, then soon shoved her aside and ran out of the farm.

"Get her!" Atticus told the group before they piled on top of Cherry.

Cherry kept running, then grunted as Applejack threw a rope at her and tied her up and she was squashed. "Get... Off..." she muffled as she poked her head out, feeling stuck.

"Not until you tell us where you're really going." Atticus said.

"Let me go!" Cherry cried out, trying to get free, but grunted and struggled. "Why are you all so heavy?!"

"Cherry!" They all called to her.

Cherry soon sighed in defeat. "Okay... The truth is that I'm working at the animal shelter, and I need the money to-"

"Wait, if that's true, then why didn't you just tell us?" Mo asked.

"I didn't want you guys to think I was soft." Cherry said.

"We wouldn't think you were soft." Atticus said.

"Please get off of me." Cherry muttered.

They all soon got off of her.

Cherry then stood up and cracked her back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go to the animal shelter... Alone... With no one else..." she then told them.

"Alright." Patch said.

Cherry then zipped away rather quickly.

"Ever solve the mystery of her yet?" Patch asked.

"I think it's a riddle for the ages." Atticus said.

"Wow." Patch said.

"We'll worry about her later," Atticus said. "We have some Dazzlings to beat."

"Come on then." Mo agreed.

"And no fighting, okay?" Patch warned the other girls.

The girls just mumbled slightly.

"Please try." Patch begged.

"Besides, we don't have time for any of this!" Sunset added. "You're supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in fifteen minutes!"

This made the others instantly panic. "Oh, no!"

"What? But it's not ready!" Twilight freaked out. "If we play our counter-spell in the first round and it doesn't work, the sirens will know what we're up to and make sure we don't get a chance to play it again!"

"Then we'll have to play a different song." Atticus said.

"We'll buy ourselves some time so you can keep workin' on it." Applejack added.

"But how do you propose we do that?" Rarity asked.

"We compete in the Battle of the Bands for real! I take over lead vocals again and we stay alive until the finals! We unleash the counter-spell then!" Rainbow Dash replied before looking at Atticus and Twilight. "You'll have figured it out by finals, right?"

"Right." Atticus said.

"Of course they will, especially Twilight," Spike smiled. "Twilight Sparkle's never met a problem she couldn't solve. Right, Twilight?"

"...Right." Twilight replied, though not as confidently as Atticus.

"Then let's go win us a Battle of the Bands!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"Um, okay." Mo said.

They soon did what they could do to get ready until they would go back to school for the big event. Atticus soon looked to Twilight. Twilight looked very scared and overwhelmed about this whole thing even though Spike kept telling everyone that she could do it. Atticus could tell that Twilight was scared and overwhelmed.


	5. Chapter 5

**_At the school..._**

"Welcome to the first ever Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands," Principal Celestia smiled to her students in the auditorium. "I believe I speak for everyone when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this school!"

Everyone that was competing glared at each other. The other students who were going to watch the battle cheered all together though.

"We are so glad our three newest students encouraged us to turn this event into something exciting!" Principal Celestia continued with a smile towards Adagio, Aria, and Sonata.

"But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner," Vice Principal Luna added. "Who is it going to be?"

 _'This is going to get intense.'_ Mo thought to herself.

"No pressure... It'll be okay..." Patch told himself as he tried to keep calm, taking deep breaths in and out. "Everything's going to be fine..."

* * *

"You feel that, girls?" Adagio smirked at the sound of the other students arguing. "Our true power is being restored."

Aria and Sonata giggled to this.

"And that's before we've tapped into the strongest magic here," Adagio then added. "Now, where's our little friend?"

Cherry soon came with her hood up over her head and she came to the other Dazzlings, looking a little nervous, but she wore a green-haired wig and different glasses so that no one would recognize her.

"About time." Adagio said.

"Sorry I'm late, I, uh, had something come up." Cherry said.

"I'm just wondering," Aria said. "The Rainblossoms, or whatever they're called, aren't under our spell. How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?"

"The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as anyone else," Adagio told her. "They just need a little... Push in the wrong direction. I have a feeling everyone here is going to be lining up to give them a shove," she then looked sharply to Cherry. "And don't run off this time."

"Um, right." Cherry smiled nervously.

* * *

Snips and Snails were on stage now with their own rap number which was terribly bad.

"Ugh... What planet is this rap from?" Mo complained, covering her ears as she came in with the other Rainbooms.

"I'm not sure, but it's horrible." Atticus added.

Eventually, Snips and Snails dropped their microphones which gave horrible feedback to add insult to injury.

"Please do not drop the microphones." Principal Celestia requested.

"I am so glad those two stopped." Cherry groaned.

"Least we know one group who won't stand in the way of us gettin' to the finals." Applejack smirked to her friends.

"Let's get ready to rock!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"Yeah!" Patch added.

"Wait! Where's Rarity?" Pinkie asked.

"Where do you think?" Mo replied.

"Oh! Here! I'm here!" Rarity called out as she came in a new outfit.

"How am I not surprised?" Atticus sighed.

"We will be performing in front of an audience," Rarity replied. "I'm not going to wear something fabulous?"

"Guh..." Applejack groaned to that with a face-palm.

* * *

Eventually, the Rainbooms came on the stage to get ready while the students waited for them. Cherry soon snuck by The Dazzlings, and got her disguise off as she made it to The Rainbooms.

"Cherry?" Atticus replied. "I thought you had to go to the animal shelter."

"Oh, uh, they said I could take some time off for the Battle of the Bands." Cherry replied.

"That's great." Atticus smiled.

"Remember, we have to be good enough to make it through but not so good we let the sirens see the magic within us," Twilight reminded everyone else. "They could realize we plan to use it against them."

"Got it! Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the whole ears and tails and rainbows thing," Rainbow Dash replied. "Sooo... About 20% less cool."

"Yeah, pretty much." Mo said.

"One! Two!" Pinkie counted and the Rainbooms soon began their song.

 _'Here we go.'_ Mo thought to herself.

"We've just got the day to get ready, And there's only so much time to lose, Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party~," The Rainbooms all began to sing together. "So let's think of something fun to do, We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen, We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right, All our friends are here, And it's time to ignite the lights!, Shake your tail 'cuz we're here to have a party tonight, Shake your tail, shake your tail, Shake your tail 'cuz we're here to have a party tonight, Shake your tail, shake your tail~"

Some of the bands were soon seen trying to sabotage the Rainbooms. A couple of magnets were thrown at Rarity's outfit and the metal reams were lifted and she was almost like a living puppet.

"So what you didn't get it right the first time~" Twilight sang as the CMC seemed to fall asleep.

"Boring!" Apple Bloom complained.

Patch didn't seem to like that, but simply ignored that complaint.

"Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime~" Pinkie Pie sang as one of her drums was shown to be a party cannon filled with confetti.

"Do your thing, you know you're an original~" Rarity tried to sing through her microphone, but the magnets dragged her around.

"Yer ideas are so funny that they're criminal~" Applejack added, shoving Rarity slightly.

Twilight soon choked as some of the confetti got in her mouth. Cherry saw that and patted the currently former Alicorn Princess on the back so she could cough it out.

"We've just got the day to get ready, And there's only so much time to lose, Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party, So let's think of something fun to do~" The Rainbooms continued to sing and Snips and Snails made one spotlight shine down on Fluttershy, which made her nervous and try to get out of the shot.

Atticus saw this and secretly used his magic on the spotlight to backfire on Snips and Snails. This made the two cry out in pain since their eyes were hit by the bright light and they soon ran off. Cherry fell over on the stage as Rarity knocked into her. She glared at the fashionista before looking to see that Photo Finish and her friends had magnets out on Rarity and controlled her like a puppet, and where she used her dream-bending powers to make Kimba appear to scare Photo Finish and her friends away. Rarity nearly fell over, but she luckily caught herself as the song soon ended. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna seemed to be the only ones who applauded the performance while the other students looked bitter and miserable.

 _'Seriously?!'_ Patch thought to himself.

* * *

"Ruined! Absolutely ruined!" Rarity complained as they came backstage as Sunset was there, carrying Spike in her arms.

"Rarity, were you tryin' to make us lose out there?!" Applejack scolded.

"It wasn't her fault," Cherry told her. "It was Photo Finish and her friends."

"Yes, this was an act of sabotage!" Rarity added.

"Yeah, well, this couldn't have done this if you didn't insist on dressin' like... Like... This!" Applejack retorted to Rarity. "We need to sound good! Is there some reason that concept seems to escape you?"

"She's not wrong." Patch said.

"And what was with the confetti, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash complained. "How am I supposed to shred if there's paper stuck in my frets?!"

"It was pretty distracting..." Fluttershy said softly.

"Ugh! Says the girl who was running from a light the whole time!" Pinkie Pie seemed to glare. "A light!"

'This is getting intense.' Mo thought to herself.

"You still sounded much better than most of the other bands," Sunset told the others. "I'm sure you'll make it to the next round. But it won't matter if you don't have that counter-spell ready. You all find a place to practice where the sirens can't hear you. I'll keep an eye on things around here."

Derpy's group soon went next and she seemed to be playing a musical saw.

"They sound interesting." Mo said.

"A cowbell, a saw, and a triangle..." Cherry commented. "Just when I think I've seen everything."

"I don't think we should use a classroom." Twilight advised as they came in the hallway only to bump into Flash Sentry yet again.

"Again? Really?" Mo smirked playfully.

"I feel like this is on purpose now." Patch teased both Twilight and Flash.

"Heh..." Twilight smiled sheepishly to Flash. "We really need to stop bumping into each other like this."

"Uh, you guys hear something?" Flash asked his band mates as he looked and sounded annoyed.

Atticus knew exactly why Flash was acting like this and didn't want Twilight to experience what would come next. Flash's band mates pretended that they didn't hear Twilight either.

"I said, we have to stop-" Twilight said to Flash.

"There it is again," Flash groaned. "So annoying."

"Come on, Twilight, let's go." Mo said as she put ear plugs in Twilight ears so she wouldn't hear anything Flash would say to her.

Twilight frowned as she felt hurt about Flash's reactions, but followed the others.

"You really think you're gonna help them?! Ha!" Flash called out, but luckily, Twilight couldn't hear him as the others took her away. "I bet you have no idea what you're even doing!"

"Did you hear something?" Mo asked the group while ignoring Flash.

"It must've been the wind." Patch added.

"It sounded like a jerk thinking winning a stupid Battle of the Bands is more important than people's feelings." Cherry added.

Flash glared slightly.

Cherry pulled down her eyelid at him and stuck her tongue out. "Nyeeeh!"

* * *

The Dazzlings soon came out which made Cherry panic and she bunched against her friends to avoid being seen. Atticus looked confused at first, but soon saw the Dazzlings and knew exactly why.

"The next band to take the stage will be Trixie and the Illusions." Principal Celestia's voice announced.

"Better head back," Adagio told Aria and Sonata. "We're supposed to go on after Trixie."

"I wonder how Trixie and her band will sound?" Patch said.

"You're a dog, why don't you use your ears and listen from far away?" Cherry scoffed.

"Shh!" Mo shushed. "They're up."

"You shh." Cherry pouted.

Trixie and her group had magic tricks thrown into their musical act.

"Mm... Not bad... Passable even." Atticus commented.

"True that." Patch nodded.

Cherry saw the Dazzlings talking with Sunset Shimmer before they would have their turn and she saw that they were making her unhappy, so she stood up firmly and stormed backstage.

"Cherry, where are you going?!" Atticus called out.

Cherry didn't say anything and kept going there which made the others concerned for her.

"Something's wrong." Atticus said.

* * *

"Leave her alone!" Cherry snapped at The Dazzlings.

"Cherry?" Sunset blinked.

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata all glared at Cherry as she came to them.

"She hasn't done anything to you three, so just back off!" Cherry glared at the Dazzlings.

"Ooh, such big bad fighting words for a lonely emo." Aria replied.

"SHUT UP!" Cherry glared. "Sunset Shimmer is my friend, and I won't let you three bully her, Atticus, Mo, and Patch and all those others are my friends too, and even though they're sometimes annoying, they're my friends and family, **AND I AM A PERKY GOTH! _NOT_ AN EMO!**"

Sunset was amazed by this side of Cherry.

"Come on, girls, let's go." Adagio told Aria and Sonata before going off with them, though shook chills around her body.

"Wow... Cherry..." Sunset whispered. "I had no idea you could be so protective of your friends like that... Thank you."

"Hey, no one bullies my friends and gets away with it," Cherry said before getting curious. "By the way, what were they saying that made you unhappy?"

"It's a little personal... Can you keep a secret?" Sunset replied.

"Sure." Cherry nodded.

"They were trying to downsize me..." Sunset began to explain. "They said no one would remember me by the time this would all be done... Especially since you guys didn't ask for me to help you in the band."

"Oh..." Cherry frowned.

"We are friends, right?" Sunset asked.

"Well, sure, only if you'll be my friend back..." Cherry replied. "Even though Patch somehow can play that whistle... I think... I don't know, he's a weird dog."

"That isn't a whistle, that's actually a new flute someone made." Sunset said.

"Well, whatever it is..." Cherry shrugged. "So, between me and you, what instrument can you play?"

"Well, I am pretty fond of the guitar." Sunset admitted.

Cherry soon used her dream-bending powers and made a guitar appear in Sunset's hands.

"Wow... It's just like I always dreamed..." Sunset smiled as she held the guitar.

Cherry gave a small smile back. Sunset soon started to play the guitar like on the game Guitar Hero.

"Rock on!" Cherry said, giving a rock 'n roll gesture with her fingers.

"You're the best, thank you, Cherry." Sunset smiled and hugged Cherry.

"Anything for a friend." Cherry smiled back.

"Wow, Cherry, you're rather friendly and supportive." Sunset said.

"I try my best," Cherry replied. "Anyway, we should get back to the others."

Sunset nodded and walked with Cherry as the Dazzlings finished their song.

* * *

It was going to take a lot of practice to win the Battle of the Bands, not just against the Dazzlings, but the other competitive students, and where most of the group was starting to affected by the competition.

"I guess at least we're all okay?" Cherry smiled sheepishly to her fellow Rainbooms.

"That's true." Mo added.

"Or is it?" Patch asked, dramatically serious.

Cherry's eyes widened.

"Just kidding, just wanted to see if I could scare you." Patch chuckled which annoyed Cherry.

"Oh, ha ha." The perky goth rolled her eyes.

"Did you type or write today?" Atticus asked, taking her hands. "I don't want you to damage your hands when you play for us."

"Eww, you're holding my hands!" Cherry cringed as she moved her hands away. "Weirdo."

"He's just worried." Patch said.

"I've been trying to be careful..." Cherry said, showing black nail polish with silver spider webs. "I got my nails done too with my mom, and that always soften my hands for a while."

"Whew." Mo sighed.

"I would go for something with more color..." Patch said.

"You can't even _see_ colors!" Cherry replied. "You're a dog!"

"Oh, right." Patch said.

"That was nice of you to help Sunset Shimmer by the way." Mo told Cherry.

"Ah, no biggie..." Cherry shrugged.

"So, what song should we sing next?" Patch asked.

"We'll think about that during our next practice," Fluttershy suggested. "We still have enough time until finals, then we'll see who wins in the end."

"Agreed." Atticus nodded.

"I'll help..." Cherry said.

"Are you gonna run off again?" Mo asked.

"No, I won't, I swear." Cherry promised.

"That's good." Mo said.

"Why were you going with those girls anyway?" Patch asked.

"Because I owe them money...?" Cherry asked before walking off.

"Tell us the real reason." Atticus said as he blocked her path.

"Guh..." Cherry groaned.

"Do you want another dog pile?" Patch asked.

"Gah, no!" Cherry panicked before sighing. "They were using me to turn against you guys... They thought I could help them with their powers of song."

"So, you knew?" Mo frowned.

Cherry grinned nervously.

"Cherry..." Atticus said. "You were helping them?"

"I know that sounds bad, but I promise I'd never wanna hurt you guys!" Cherry told them, nervously.

"How can we tell if you're telling the truth?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You don't believe me...?" Cherry asked, feeling hurt.

"You were helping them!" Rainbow Dash glared.

"Well, yeah, but-" Cherry smiled nervously.

"How can we even trust you again?!" Rainbow Dash glared. "Were you just pretending to like us?!"

"No!" Cherry replied. "Honest!"

"Everyone, let's just calm down; I'm sure Cherry was forced into helping them." Mo said.

"Yes! Exactly!" Cherry replied. "They came into my room in the middle of the night and took me with them! Adagio said that I had something that she and the other Dazzlings were looking for!"

"Your magic?" Atticus guessed.

"I guess..." Cherry replied. "I thought maybe it was my singing."

"You sing?" Patch asked.

Cherry hesitated. "...No."

"You sure?" Mo asked.

Cherry narrowed her eyes.

"STOP LYING AT US!" Rainbow Dash told her.

"Ow!" Cherry covered her ears. "Okay, sometimes I sing! Sometimes after school, I go see Forte and he's giving me singing lessons!"

"That's great." Patch said.

"And you didn't wanna tell us that?" Atticus asked.

"I don't like to talk about it..." Cherry pouted angrily. "He's obsessed with me."

"Um, okay?" Mo said out of confusion.

"Hm..." Cherry hummed with a pout.

"No more lying." Atticus told her.

"At least I'm better at it than you are," Cherry couldn't help but tease. She could tell that now wasn't the right time for teasing. "I'll shut up right now..."s


	6. Chapter 6

And so, practicing began for everyone and they took as much time as they could so they could beat The Dazzlings, and where they started to sound great.

"Alright, Twilight, a spell would be good right about now." Cherry told the Equestrian girl.

"Um, right, no pressure." Twilight smiled sheepishly as she held Fluttershy's notebook.

"You have the spell written, right?" Cherry asked.

"Uh...?" Twilight drawled out.

"Twilight's the focus! Twilight's the focus!" Cherry blamed.

"Cherry..." Patch sighed and shook her head. "You still don't have it written, Twilight?"

"No..." Twilight sighed with a frown.

"I can help you write the spell like a song." Atticus said.

Twilight looked at him and came closer. "Please..." she said to him softly. "You're always so helpful whenever I need you the most... Isn't he, Cherry?"

"Yeah, he can actually be pretty supportive and helpful," Cherry had to admit. "He was my brother for seven years, and it still remains."

"That's right." Atticus nodded.

"Oh, Atticus, you're so sweet..." Twilight smiled. "It's almost like I have another brother."

Atticus smiled back before they began to think up the lyrics for the song spell.

"I still think we should sing about how awesome I am." Rainbow Dash said.

Cherry looked to her in deadpan. "Uh-huh, and don't you think you might get too much into the song and start to pony-up?" She asked.

"Is that a problem?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Cherry just groaned and face-palmed. "The Dazzlings will know that we have magic once you pony-up!" She told her.

"Ohh... I guess you have a point..." Rainbow Dash said.

"MORONS!" Cherry cried out.

"She doesn't mean that." Atticus told the others.

"I'm sure that a certain someone just forgot that we're not supposed to pony-up until we're in the finals against The Dazzlings." Mo said before glaring at Rainbow Dash.

"Heh..." Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly. "Let's get back to practicing."

* * *

And so began another day of practicing while Atticus helped Twilight with the counter-spell. Also, unfortunately, they would do Rainbow Dash's song. Trixie and her band went first and soon finished. Cherry poked her head out of the curtain and gulped at the sight of the crowd. Seeing how many people were there made her gulp.

"Nervous?" Atticus asked.

"Nervous? _Me_? Nah!" Cherry laughed sheepishly. "You're funny... You should go to an Open Mic night."

"And in 3, 2, 1." Patch cued.

"Are you-" Atticus was about to ask.

"I'M CALM!" Cherry yelled out, but her left eye twitched and she looked scared to death. She soon saw that the band was now all looking at her and where this caused her to sigh.

"Okay, go sit down." Atticus told her.

"I'm fine..." Cherry mumbled, but she soon walked off and sat down by a water cooler backstage. She soon took out a cold bottle of water.

"You're never gonna top that performance, 'Raingoons'," Trixie told the others as she came with her group. "You shouldn't be allowed to when you have such a big advantage over the rest of us."

"My superior guitar playing and off-the-charts awesome singing voice?" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. I mean _her_!" Trixie replied, pointing towards Twilight. "If you were really all that, Rainbow Dash, you wouldn't have needed to bring in some magical ringer to have half a chance. Everyone's talking about it."

 _'She is starting to get on my nerves.'_ Mo thought to herself.

"Ha! Puh-leeze!" Rainbow Dash retorted to Trixie. "I could win this thing as a solo act and everybody knows it!"

Trixie scoffed to that. "Sure you could." she then took out a smoke bomb and poofed away, making them all cough from the smoke. When the smoke cleared, she was gone in front of them.

"She's gone!" Pinkie Pie gasped, but then saw Trixie hiding behind her drum set. "Oh, wait, there she is."

Trixie gasped as she was found and soon zipped away quickly.

"Next up, the Rainbooms." Principal Celestia announced.

"Here we go." Atticus said.

"Knock 'em dead, Rainbooms!" Spike cheered.

"I'll be here... Just... Watching." Sunset smiled weakly before frowning.

Cherry could tell that Sunset felt like she wasn't part of the band. Once on stage, the Rainbooms began their song to wow the crowd with with Rainbow Dash singing the main song with the others mostly singing in the chorus. They were anything but happy. After the song ended, everyone looked exhausted and fell to the floor. Fluttershy dropped her tambourine and ran offstage in a panic. Even Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had issues, especially with Sunset jumping out like she did. Cherry soon panicked and closed the curtains.

* * *

"Now that's the bad girl we love to hate!" Flash pointed out which made the crowd jeer.

"I knew she was still trouble!" Octavia huffed as she waved her cello bow in her hand.

The curtains soon closed, blocking the audience.

"Close! Close! Close!" Cherry begged before yelping and falling in between the curtains as they closed on her. "I think I can taste my spine..."

Sunset Shimmer saw Cherry and helped her up as they walked backstage and she looked depressed.

"Sunset, why did you tackle Rainbow Dash?" Mo asked.

"She was showing them her magic," Sunset frowned. "I-I didn't know what else to do."

"Ugh. Close the curtains? Unplug her amp? Give us a chance to deal with the situation?" Rarity suggested with a groan.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to help." Sunset frowned.

"She really was trying, you guys." Cherry said.

"Yeah, well, she didn't." Rainbow Dash replied.

"None of this would've happened if you weren't tryin' to show off, as usual." Applejack scolded her.

"Good show, 'Rainbrooms'," Trixie smirked as she came back to the group. "I especially liked the part where Sunset Shimmer, in a fit of jealous rage, knocked out Rainbow Dash mid-guitar solo!"

"She was not in a fit of jealous rage, Trixie!" Cherry glared.

The others didn't feel too sure about that as Sunset blushed from anger.

"If you say so," Trixie smirked before looking to the principals as they talked. "Ooh! Looks like they've already decided who'll be moving on to the finals! I'm guessing it wasn't too difficult a decision."

Cherry looked ready to pounce as she had enough of Trixie. The doors soon opened and the Dazzlings came out, starting to sing around Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna to entrance them. Cherry saw what was going on and had a feeling they were changing their decision.

"You guys wanna keep it down?" Rainbow Dash scolded her arguing friends. "They're about to announce who's moving on."

"Who are you kidding?" Fluttershy pouted. "You know it isn't gonna be us."

"The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight's finals... The Rainbooms!" Principal Celestia soon announced.

"She say what now?" Mo asked.

This was very shocking for everybody.

"This isn't over." Trixie glared at Cherry before storming off by the other Rainbooms.

"I think we should go out through the back so no one sees us." Patch suggested.

"And miss out on all the glory?" Rainbow Dash grinned. "I don't think so!"

Cherry looked deadpanned before opening the curtains slightly to show all the students looking like The Rainbooms didn't deserve to win the semi-finals. A tomato was even thrown at her. "I didn't even deserve that!" Cherry cried out before glaring to see who threw it. To her unsurprise, she saw that one of the Dazzlings had thrown that.

"See you at tonight's big show, Rainbooms," Adagio told their competition. "We are really looking forward to it."

"Yeah, well... Not as much as we are!" Rainbow Dash retorted.

"Oi." Mo groaned with a face-palm.

The crowd jeered to them as they soon walked off.

"As if my life can possibly get any worse." Cherry mumbled.

"Just ignore them." Atticus told the group.

Cherry growled towards the Dazzlings as they talked amongst themselves, but then saw Trixie seeming to go along with them almost like a team-up. _'That's a bad sign.'_ She thought to herself.

* * *

They soon all went down to the concert hall to practice as tonight would be the big night.

"Wow, there's gonna be a lot of people to fill those seats..." Cherry said nervously.

"Don't worry, Cherry, just close your eyes and pretend the audience isn't there when we perform." Atticus assured.

"Easier said than done..." Cherry replied.

"I never took Cherry to be one to have stage fright." Patch commented.

"I just don't like singing in front of people." Cherry said.

"Oh, it's not that bad..." Patch replied.

"Not that bad?" Cherry gasped as she started to sweat with deep anxiety. "Sure, yeah, right..."

"Oh, come on, Cherry, it'll be so amazing!" Pinkie Pie told her. "You'll be there on stage, basking in the footlights! The center of attention! A shining star! Everybody staring at you, judging you, jealously noting how they could be way better than you! Why wasn't it them? Why wasn't it them? And then, when you choke, they'll turn on you, becoming a seething, angry mob, and you'll be horribly humiliated, never able to show your face in this town again!"

"Pinkie Pie! Don't be ridiculous!" Rarity scolded.

Cherry now hyperventilated and eventually fainted, but luckily, landed in Atticus's arms.

"Thanks a lot, Pinkie Pie." Atticus groaned.

"Ugh... What happened?" Cherry asked as she soon woke up.

"Long story..." Patch said. "Cherry, did you die?"

"No, I didn't die!" Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Then you just fainted." Patch said.

"Ooh... I thought I was over that..." Cherry muttered about fainting.

"Guess you're not." Mo said.

"Sorry, Cherry, I was just trying to help." Pinkie said.

"Good job, Pinkie Pie." Cherry deadpanned.

Pinkie Pie simply smiled sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Cherry; you'll get over your stage fright someday." Atticus assured.

"Did a scientist discover flying pigs yet?" Cherry mumbled in doubt.

"Seriously, Cherry, you really will be able to get over your stage fright." Atticus said.

"Hmm..." Cherry pouted.

"Alright, let's get to rehearsal, we have a big night ahead of us." Mo suggested.

The others agreed and they began to practice to defeat The Dazzlings, the future of their school rested in their hands.

"But something just doesn't add up." Cherry said.

"What makes you say that?" Fluttershy frowned, suddenly feeling worried.

"Well, after what happened at the performance; I thought that Trixie and her band would be the ones that would make it to the finals with the Dazzlings." Cherry said.

* * *

"Hmm... That's interesting..." Patch said.

"And the Dazzlings were using their magic from their pendants on Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna." Cherry said. "And then they were talking with Trixie."

"Wow... She _is_ smart..." Sunset said, a bit surprised that Cherry figured all of that out on her own.

"This is worse than before!" Cherry panicked. "Counter-spell, NOW!"

"Cherry, calm down." Patch said.

"Heh... Sorry..." Cherry said as she looked a little stressed out which eventually began to make her hair gray out. "No doubt though that those Dazzlings are gonna feed off our magic."

"Even with the magic of friendship?" Patch asked.

"Ever since the Battle of the Bands started, the magic of friendship seems to have weakened." Cherry said.

"I can't believe all this tension was happening right under my nose and I didn't realize it," Twilight spoke up, still a little pressured. "I'm supposed to be the one with all the answers. And all I've done since I got here is let you down."

The floor underneath them soon opened to show a trap door.

"What did I do?!" Cherry panicked.

"Calm down, Cherry, I doubt this is your fault." Patch comforted her.

The trap door soon closed once they all fell. Spike soon came out and found something to chew on, but then gasped once he saw what had happened.

"See you never!" Trixie laughed at them.

Trixie soon walked off to join her fellow Illusions as The Dazzlings came out to see that the trap had been set for The Rainbooms.

"Told you someone would give them a shove." Adagio smirked to her fellow Dazzlings.

"She didn't shove them," Sonata said which made Adagio groan and face-palm. "She pulled a lever."

"Go back to sleep, Sonata." Aria muttered.

* * *

The evening of the performance soon came. There didn't seem to be anything that the others could do as they were stuck under the stage. Rainbow Dash kept trying to break the door down, only to fail as she wasn't strong enough.

"Enough already!" Mo told her.

"Maybe it doesn't even matter that we're trapped down here," Twilight sulked. "I don't think the counter-spell would have worked anyway."

"You don't know that for sure." Atticus told her.

"Of course it would have worked, Twilight," Applejack added before glaring at another one of her friends. "Assumin' a certain band member didn't try to hog the spotlight the whole time we were tryin' to play it!"

"Hey! If you wanna tell Twilight she's getting a little too caught up trying to be the new leader of this band, you don't have to be all cryptic about it." Rainbow Dash defended.

"She was talking about _you_ , Rainbow Dash!" Rarity corrected.

"That's right, because you have been trying to hog the spotlight the whole time!" Patch barked at Rainbow dash.

"Me?!" Rainbow Dash glared. "I'm just trying to make sure my band rocks as hard as it needs to!"

" ** _OUR_ BAND!**" The others corrected.

"Why do you keep saying _your_ band when it's our band?!" Mo glared at Rainbow Dash.

"It might've been _your_ idea to start a band, but it's not just _your_ band, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack added.

" _I'm_ the one who writes all the songs!" Rainbow Dash defended.

" _I_ write songs!" Fluttershy argued. "You just never let us play any of them!"

"Why don't you ever let us play any of Fluttershy's songs?!" Cherry added.

"Careful, Cherry, you'll give yourself another nosebleed." Mo warned.

"I had the most perfect outfits for us to wear!" Rarity soon added.

"Again with the costumes!" Applejack scoffed. "No one cares what we're wearin'!"

" _I_ care, Applejack!" Rarity defended. "So sorry if I enjoy trying to make a creative contribution to the band!"

"Are you serious?!" Cherry glared at the fashionista. "Why should anyone care what we wear as a band?!"

"Hey! Anybody here remember fun?!" Pinkie sounded angry which was a pretty scare sight. "I'll give you a hint: It's the exact opposite of being in The Rainbooms!"

"I wish I never asked any of you to be in my band!" Rainbow Dash glared.

"I wish I'd never agreed to be in it!" Rarity glared back.

"Me neither!" Fluttershy and Applejack added.

"I wish that I never met _any_ of you girls!" Cherry added.

Eventually, everyone else got into a huge argument like everyone else in Canterlot High School which would fuel the Dazzlings' magic. Trixie and her group soon finished and it was now time for The Dazzlings to go next, and where they were feeding off of The Rainbooms' argument.

"Stop! You have to stop!" Sunset Shimmer told the others which soon made them stop. "This is what they've been after all along! They're feeding off of the magic inside you!"

"How can they be using our magic?" Applejack replied. "It's the magic of friendship."

"Ever since you started this band, you've been letting little things get to you," Sunset said to them. "I never said anything 'cuz I didn't feel like it was my place. Not when I was so new to this whole "friendship" thing. I still have a lot to learn. But I do know that if you don't work out even the smallest problems right at the start, the magic of friendship can be turned into something else."

"She's right," Mo said. "We've been letting the smallest problems get to us."

"We still have to get out of here..." Cherry said before she soon ran to the door and rammed against it, trying to break it down, but she just hurt herself and fell over. "I'm okay..."

"Maybe we should try and let Atticus or Patch deal with the door." Mo suggested.

"Please..." Cherry said as she was sore now. "Ow... Why did I do that?"

Atticus and Patch walked off slowly and soon ran up to the door, about to knock it down, but it suddenly opened and they crashed against each other as Spike was at the door.

* * *

"Spike?" Mo said out of confusion once she saw him at the door.

"Sorry I took so long," Spike told them. "I had to find somebody who wasn't under the sirens' spell to help me get you out."

The student was shown and it was DJ Pon-3.

"Why isn't she under their spell?" Twilight asked.

"Never takes off her headphones." Spike replied.

"Ohh." The group smiled.

DJ gave them all a big thumb's up.

"Come on, y'all!" Applejack told the others. "Time to prove we've still got the magic of friendship inside us!"

"And there's only one way to do it!" Twilight added.

"That's right." Atticus added.

"We're getting the band back together?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"We're getting _our_ band back together!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"You know it." Mo nodded.

"Ooh, which version of the counter-spell are we going to play?" Rarity then asked.

"I don't think it matters what song we play, as long as we play it together as friends." Twilight smiled.

"That's right." Patch nodded.

"I know just the song," Rainbow Dash said. "Fluttershy's written a really great one."

This made Fluttershy so very happy.

"We're about to save the world here," Applejack added. "Personally, Ah think we should do it in style. Rarity?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Rarity gushed. She soon brought out a wardrobe for the band.

"Where's Cherry?" Patch asked as he looked around.

Everyone noticed that Cherry was hiding from stage fright again.

"Don't worry, Cherry, we'll be by your side." Mo told her.

"Who's scared?" Cherry smiled sheepishly as she limped. "I just broke my ankle."

"We can give you a chair." Patch said.

"Uh, no, I need to go home and see my mom to put ice on this..." Cherry said. "Ooh, I think I'm swelling." She soon saw that no one was buying it.

"Cherry, it's not that bad... Now come on..." Mo told her.

Cherry bit her lip as she looked over as The Dazzlings continued to sing until they were done.


	7. Chapter 7

After a little while, Cherry took a deep breath before sighing. The Rainbooms were soon all on top of a hill with their colorful outfits.

"How are we supposed to play over them from up here?" Rainbow Dash wondered.

A car horn honked and DJ rode over with her car and showed her very own sound system with lights and stereos.

"That'll do it." Mo said.

"Uh, guys?" Cherry asked.

Everyone looked over to her.

"I think The Dazzlings just pony-upped." Cherry said.

"They what?!" Patch gulped.

" **WHERE'S YOUR PONY GOD NOW?!** " Cherry called out, but luckily, it didn't ruin the show for anyone.

"Calm down!" Mo told her, smacking her to soothe her.

"Ow..." Cherry winced and shook a little. "S-Sorry... I'm just a little frazzled."

"Don't worry, we can do this." Atticus assured her.

* * *

While the Dazzlings sang, the Rainbooms soon began to sing their own song.

 _'Well, here goes nothing.'_ Cherry thought to herself as her heart thumped as she grabbed onto her microphone and she took a deep breath until it would be her turn.

Atticus looked over and cued her.

Cherry sighed and soon sang the best that she could for the solo. "Don't need to hear a crowd, Cheering out my name, I didn't come here seeking, Infamy or fame~" Her singing broke the spell on the crowd.

"The one and only thing, That I am here to bring, Is music, is the music, Is the music in my soul~," The Rainbooms all sang together as the crowd seemed attracted to their singing more than The Dazzlings. "Gonna break out (Out!), Set myself free, yeah, Let it all go (Go!), Just let it be, yeah, Find the music in your heart, Let the music make you start, To set yourself apart~"

The Rainbooms soon pony-upped well besides Sunset.

"So, the Rainbooms wanna make this into a real battle of the bands? Then let's battle." Adagio smirked.

"What we have in store (ah-ah), All we want and more (ah-ah)~" The Dazzlings sang. "We will break on through (ah-ah), Now it's time to finish you!~"

The Rainbooms and The Dazzlings soon vocalized together.

"Sunset Shimmer!" Cherry called out. "We need you!"

Sunset looked at the mic before looking at the Dazzlings and then joining the Rainbooms. The crowd looked between the two groups and there was a huge red glow which blew up all around them. Three monster figures soon came out from Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, snarling at the Rainbooms. DJ soon turned up the volume so then Sunset could be heard.

"You're never gonna bring me down, You're never gonna break this part of me, My friends are here to bring me 'round, Not singing just for popularity~" Sunset soon sang alone at first before Twilight joined her. "We're here to let you know, That we won't let it go~"

Cherry looked nervous of the monsters. She soon saw Atticus holding his hand out to her. "Atticus, I know I say I love you, but that's more of a sister complimenting her brother," She said, misunderstanding the gesture. "I mean, what would Mo say? And besides, the idea of kissing you makes me wanna-" She soon saw the look on his face, telling her that he wasn't holding his hand out to her because he loved her more than just a friend, but to let her know that she had friends by her side to get through this.

"Are you done?" Atticus asked.

"Heh... Sorry..." Cherry said sheepishly, taking his hand. Once she knew as long as her friends were by her side, she knew she could handle the crowd.

* * *

The dragons flew by and all around.

"Don't be scared... Don't be scared... Don't be scared..." Cherry told herself.

DJ soon turned up the volume which sent rainbow blasts against the Dazzlings' dragons. The Dazzlings' eyes soon stopped glowing red. Everyone used their special Elements of Harmony to defeat the dragons in their own special ways. Soon, even Sunset began to pony-up. Sunset soon picked up the microphone after it was thrown by her feet.

"They're gaining..." Cherry muttered.

"Don't worry, they're almost outta here." Patch smirked with confidence.

"And I think a new Element of Harmony has been created." Mo smiled.

Sunset Shimmer smiled all around as this was a good sign for everybody involved. Even the other high school students joined among the song as they were freed from The Dazzlings. A Rainbow Alicorn soon appeared and defeated The Dazzlings once and for all, and where their pendants were shattered which was bad for The Dazzlings and their singing. This made the three girls look forlorn and miserable as their pendants were destroyed. They then tried to sing, but it sounded horrible and awkward.

"Wow, they sing worse than Cherry!" Patch said.

Cherry gave a deadpan look before shrugging. "Eh, I'll take that as a compliment."

The crowd soon booed The Dazzlings off the stage and they threw food at them.

"Guess that explains why these were so special to them." Sunset said as she picked up a piece from the stage floor.

"Without those pendants, they're harmless." Atticus said.

"Rainbooms rule! That was amazing!" Flash cheered and soon hugged Twilight.

Twilight smiled up to him and blushed which made the others giggle to them. The two soon looked into each other's eyes before looking away and blushing even more.

 _'I just know that they're meant to be in Equestria.'_ Mo thought to herself.

"You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie glared, coming literally between Twilight and Flash and used a smoke bomb to make another dramatic exit, and where she was no longer in front of them like last time.

"She's gone!" Pinkie gasped after they coughed from the smoke. "Oh, wait, there she is."

Trixie was seen climbing over the wall where the audience was and soon fell over. "Trixie's okay!" she then called out.

"Of course." Mo smirked.

"You know, Twilight is going back to Equestria soon," Rainbow Dash said to the others. "The Rainbooms could really use someone to help Fluttershy on backup vocals."

"I also play guitar." Sunset said as she brought out the guitar that Cherry made for her and played a quick riff and she was quite amazing.

"Rock on, Sunset Shimmer." Cherry chuckled.

The others felt astonished and amazed.

"We'll see." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"That's close to a yes." Cherry smiled back.

The group soon joined in a big group hug all together. Even Spike joined in the hug as it was a good night for all of them.

* * *

Later on, Twilight soon went back to Equestria. Atticus and the others hugged her and allowed her to go as it was time for her to go back home.

"Look on the bright side, we still have the portal." Patch smiled.

"That's right." Atticus smiled back.

"Uh, you guys were great with the song..." Cherry said. "Not to mention the music... I didn't do a whole lot though."

"What are you talking about, Cherry?" Mo smiled. "You played with us."

"You have a great singing voice," Patch added. "You should do it more often."

"No, no, I think once was enough." Cherry smiled sheepishly.

"You sure?" Atticus asked.

"Mm... Yes..." Cherry replied. "I don't need to sing in public ever again."

"Well, okay." Mo said.

* * *

Later on, the Rainbooms began their next band practice, but Sunset was writing in a book and it was a letter for Twilight back in Equestria similar to the letters that Twilight used to write for Princess Celestia, and where this wouldn't be the only adventure they would have. Atticus, Cherry, Mo, and Patch soon went back home after a very long and musical adventure with Canterlot High. This was just the beginning though and there would be more to come. Cherry soon went to go straight back home.

"She really does have a good singing voice..." Patch said. "Ya know, when she doesn't get all nervous."

"True that." Mo nodded.

"You were great." Atticus smiled.

"You really were too..." Mo smiled back. "I didn't know you could sing like that."

"I guess you could say it's one of my talents." Atticus smiled back.

"Such a talented one you are..." Mo smiled as she hugged him. "Ooh, listen to me... I'm getting all girly."

The two of them soon kissed. Patch then decided to leave them alone as they walked off together to go do something until the next adventure.

The End


End file.
